Kurt Warner's foundation puts 'first things first'

The Hall of Fame quarterback says the highlight of his year is hosting families at Disney World

Joe Scalzo

Thanks to Kurt Warner, you don’t have to be a Super Bowl champion to say “I’m going to Disney World!”

For each of the past 15 years, Warner’s family, along with his “First Things First Foundation,” have hosted between eight and 10 Make-A-Wish and Dream Factory families at the Disney World resort in Orlando.

“It’s the coolest thing we do,” Warner said.

The idea started when Warner won the Super Bowl MVP with the Rams in 2000 and got to say the iconic phrase in a commercial, then make the trip to Disney with his family.

“I built a relationship with Disney and made some contacts down there,” he said. “I’ll never forget my first training camp (after the Super Bowl) a Make-A-Wish kid came to training camp and his wish was to meet me. My wife (Brenda) and I laughed and I said, ‘This kid needs to wish bigger.’

“That started us thinking, ‘How can we connect with kids?’ More importantly, we always felt our foundation was about building relationships because that’s where the impact is really made.”

In addition to visiting the Disney parks, the Warners have church services, pool parties and meals with the families. Kurt and Brenda have seven children themselves, including two children from Brenda’s previous marriage. (Her oldest child, Zachary, suffered brain damage when his father dropped him on his head at 4 months old. Now 27, he still has some intellectual and developmental disabilities.)

“It’s the greatest week of the entire year for our family,” Warner said. “Being able to meet new people and connect people together and watch kids connect with other kids, it just inspires you and encourages you. This is our 16th year and my wife and I keep thinking at some point, this is going to end. Nobody is going to want to go with us. They’re going to say, ‘Who is this guy?’”

In addition to the Disney trip, the Warners invite past families to a reunion every other year in either St. Louis or Arizona. This year’s reunion was in St. Louis on July 2.

“It’s been incredible to hear stories about how that one week, even with families 16 years ago, transformed their lives or their perspective on their situation,” Warner said. “Where they may have been fearful before, it opened their eyes and helped them live life again.”

Warner has been an outspoken Christian throughout his NFL career — his first Sports Illustrated cover story started with a scene of him worshipping at a local church — and he started the foundation early in his tenure with the Rams as a way of using his position to impact people.

“I was very outspoken early on because I wanted people to know, ‘This is who I am, this is what I’m all about,’” he said. “I wasn’t going to hide that under a bush or sit back and see how it goes, then put myself out there. I just said, however long this lasts, I’m going to use this platform for things that are foundation-related and to encourage people in their faith.”